High School Creative Writing

To a 13-year-old teenager in high school, who you are means everything. You are the outfit you decide to wear to school, the way your hair sits on your head, the way you read a passage in class, and the speed at which you walk in the halls. Other students know when you wear the same shirt twice, get a bad and embarrassing haircut, or mispronounce a word while you read a passage aloud, and they will call you out for it. They will comment on the attributes that you are most sensitive about—ones you may not be able to control—making kids dread walking in the halls alone because of their awareness of the whispers coming from the groups of students as they walk by. Self-consciousness develops with every move you make and every word you say. High

I detached from the ease and security provided in my previous safe haven. Thrown into a foreign school and expected to institute brand new friendships, I hesitantly established my beginning as I grew into high school. My existence served as the quiet girl in the back of the room where teachers had little awareness of my name or the sound of my voice. Every day, I would go through seven hours without saying a word in class. I began to wonder how I would survive the next four years of my life. Surprisingly, the closing message that wrapped up The Ellen DeGeneres Show gave me the strength to grow: “Be kind to one another.” In contrast to isolating myself in order to avoid potential hostility, these simple words allowed me to break out of my shell and speak out, enabling me to form meaningful relationships with classmates who are my closest friends today. All that it took was a little

Gradually, I realize that the things we cried and worried about so deeply are truly insignificant. How you look or the way you speak are not the aspects that define you. Who you are is your character. It is how you behave when no one is watching; it is what you do that comes from your heart. Set as a reminder to spread goodness into the world, Ellen’s quote, “Be kind to one another,” helps me remember to do my part for others. My prior uneasiness to speak up vanishes as I put others before myself, since I would rather better someone’s day than live in fear of their possible judgments of me. At this point in my life, I encourage myself to be kind everyday, whether that means giving a stranger a compliment, thanking my bus driver, or holding the door for someone behind me. With the immense amount of hate and negativity in today’s society, there is a great importance behind keeping in mind that we are all human, and there is no valid reason for us to bring each other down. Everyone carries their own struggle, whether that struggle is obvious or hidden. The quote goes to show that human beings are meant to be the catalyst for a positive impact and support one another, because the slightest gesture to be kind could mean the world to someone